Phillies activate J.P. Crawford

J.P. Crawford slides into home plate to score a run in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on June 15, 2018. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

In mid-June, a broken hand interrupted what was already a disappointing season for J.P. Crawford. Now, a little under two months later, he’s officially back on the Phillies active roster and could see duty in the team’s series against the Padres in San Diego. The Phillies had optioned pitcher Enyel De Los Santos to Lehigh Valley yesterday to clear a spot on the 25-man roster, so they did not need to clear a roster spot for Crawford.

Crawford has struggled offensively this season and those struggles continued during a rehab assignment with Lakewood and Clearwater in preparation for his return to the roster. In 14 games between the two affiliates, Crawford hit .149/.322/.255. Crawford boosted his on-base percentage by drawing 12 walks. At the major league level this season, Crawford is batting .194/.312/.333 with the Phillies. He’s homered twice and has five doubles and a triple in his 34 games this season.

Despite the weak offensive numbers this season, Crawford was seeing the lion’s share of time at short. Since he went on the DL though, Scott Kingery took over the shortstop role and the team also acquired Asdrubal Cabrera to play shortstop. It’s likely that Crawford will see a pretty sizable reduction in his playing time and could wind up being demoted to Lehigh Valley when Bour joins the team this weekend in San Diego. It’s likely that either Crawford or Kingery, who has also struggled offensively, will be sent to the IronPigs until rosters expand on September 1st. The Phillies could decide to send a reliever to Lehigh Valley, with Austin Davis being the most likely nominee if they go that direction.